Apparatus for cleaning strip material



Aug. 9, 1960 `c:. R. RUSSELL ETAL APPARATUS FOR CLEANING STRIP MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 2. 1958 ff-My Ell Aug. 9, 1960 c. R. RUSSELL ETAL 2,948,006

APPARATUS RoR CLEANING STRIP MATERIAL Filed June 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 States Patent() y 2,948,006, APPARATUS RoR CLEANING srRn MATERIAL `Charles R. Russell, Homewood, and Edward A. Schulz, Clarendon Hills, Ill., assignors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York p Filed June 2, 1958, Ser. No. 739,109

3 Claims. (Cl. 15-102) This invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning strip material and more particularly a cleaning apparatus having detachably mounted abrasive pads for engaging and cleaning both sides of a `strip material passing through the apparatus.

In cleaning operations for moving strip material Where an abrasive pad is used'for cleaning that must be changed quite often, it is necessary to provide a quick detachable pad holding mechanism. It is a requisite that the holding mechanism restrain the pad against longitudinal movement with the moving strip while not engaging the strip.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide an abrasive holding apparatus permitting rapid and uncomplicated changing of the abrasive.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for cleaning moving strip material wherein the holder for retaining a compressible abrasive pad does not engage the `moving strip. I

. Still another object of this invention is to provide a strip cleaning apparatus which can be pivoted out of engagement with the strip material to facilitate changing of the cleaning abrasive.

With these and other objects in view the present invention contemplates an apparatus for cleaning strip material wherein grooved blocks are pivotally connected with the grooves of one block facing the grooves of the other. One of the blocks is resiliently mounted and both blocks are provided with grills pivotally mounted thereon below thesurface of the block and congruent with and movablepinto the grooves ofthe block to which the grill is mounted. `Each of the grills has a latching means to hold the grill in the grooves and thereby force a portion of a compressible abrasive pad into the grooved surfaces of theblocks to secure the pad against longitudinal movement with a strip moving past the pad. In this latched position the grills are out of the plane of the engaging surface of the abrasive pads. The blocks are held in position on opposite sides of the strip material with the abrasive Vpad in frictional contact therewith by a quickly releasable latch means that tends to force the blocks together.

`Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

"Figfl isa side"ele`vational view of a cleaning apparatus, with pads of steel wool held in abrasive contact with a moving strip, constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the cleaning apparatus showing the relative placement of latch fasteners and steel wool pad retaining grills.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the cleaning apparatus in open position with the grills pivoted out of grooves formed in supporting blocks. i

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view along lines 4--4 showing the cleaning apparatus locked in operative position ICC Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view along lines 5--5 showing the cleaning apparatus latched into cleaning position and showing a resilient mounting for the upper block.

Referring to Figs. 1-3 there is illustrated a cleaning apparatus having a stand 20 and a frame 21 pivotally mounted to the stand 20 by a pin 22. The frame 21 is held in a horizontal position by a pair of brackets 25 pivotally connected to the frame 21 by a pin 26 and adjustably connected to the stand 20 by a slot 27 and a bolt 28. A ywooden block 35 is supported on the frame 21. A plurality of levers 36 each having a bolt 37 adjustably secured thereto (Fig. 3), are pivotally mounted to the frame 21 by a plurality of pins 38. The bolts 37 are adjustably mounted in levers 36 so that the levers can be moved to provide predetermined separations between the levers 36 and the block 35 when the levers 36 are pivoted counterclockwise about the pins 38 (Fig. 3) to a horizontal positionover the block 35. v

A second or cover block (Fig. 5) is resiliently mounted to the levers 36 by screws 47 that pass through openings 48 in the levers 36 to threadably engage the block at the bottom of recesses 46. A spring 50 is mounted on each screw 47 between each lever 36 and the bottom of each recess 46 to bias the block 45 away from the levers 36 (Fig. 5).

The block 35 is provided with a group of longitudinal grooves and 56 (Fig. 5) that communicate with a series of `lateral dovetail grooves 57. A grill having longitudinal elements 62 and 63 and lateral elements 64 is congruent with and positioned to fit loosely within the longitudinal grooves 55, 56 and lateral grooves 57. The longituduinal element 62 of the grill 60 is pivotally mounted by a row of four hinge rods 65 extending upwardly from the base 21 so that the rod 62 is confined in the slot 55 of the block 35.

-The grill 60 being thus pivotally mounted by the hinge rods 65 can be pivoted towards the grooved surfaces in the `block 35 to allow the longitudinal rod 63 to move into the longitudinal slot 56 in the block 35 and to force the lateral grill elements 64 into the lateral block grooves l 57. Four latch bar members are pivotally secured to the rod 63 of the grill 60 and are movable into open slots 72 and 73 (Fig. 5) formed in the block 35 and the frame 21 respectively. A wing nut 75 is threadably mounted on the latch bar 70 to act against frame 21 (Figs. l and 5) to draw the grill 60 into the lateral grooves 57 and the longitudinal grooves 66 of the block 35. A steel wool pad 76 or other compressible abrasive material having a low cohesive strength is placed over the grooved surface of the block 35 before the grill 60 is pivoted into the grooves 56 and 57 will be held to the grooved surface of the block 35 by forcing portions of the steel wool into the grooves.

The block 45 has lateral dovetail grooves 79 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4). A grill 80 having longitudinal rods 82 and 83 and lateral rod elements 84, is adapted to lit loosely within the grooves 79 of the block 45. The longitudinal rod 82,91 grill 80 is pivotally mounted to four hinge rods which are threadably secured to the levers 36 so that the rods 82 of the grill 80 will be in the general plane of the grooves 79 of the block 45. The grill 80 is thereby pivotally mounted to the hinge rods 85 so as to be able to pivot the lateral rods 83 into the grooves 79 and out of the plane of the working surface of the steel wool.

70 with the rods of the grill and a portion of the steel wool pads held in the groovee of the block.

the grooved surface of the block 45 before the grill 80 is moved into the grooves 79, is held against the groove surfaceV of the block 45 by forcing a portion or the steel wool into the grooves.

After the wing nuts 9i) and 75 are tightneed to hold the block 45 rigidly against the frame 2 andthe block 35 resiliently against levers 36 (Figs. 4 and 5), the levers 36 Yare pivoted over the base 21. Two latch rods 91 are pivotally connected to frame 2l by pins 92 and can be moved into slots 93 formed in the frames 36. Wing nuts 95 which are threadably mounted on the latch bars 9i can be tightened against the levers 36 (Figs. l, 4 and 5) to rdraw the upper block 4S toward the lower block 35 to force the steel wool pad 9i against one side of a moving strip lil@ to be cleaned and simultaneously force the steel wool 76 secured to the lower block 35 against the underside of the strip lili). The abrasive to be used could also be in the form of an abrasive sheet or preshaped block with grooves to receive the holding grill rods. A

Operation Assume that the apparatus is in the open position such as illustrated irl Fig. 3, then steel wool pads 76 and 91 may be placed over the grooved surfaces of the blocks 35 and 45 respectively. While holding the abrasive materials against the blocks, the grills 6i) and 8l? are pivoted about rods 62 and 82 thereby compressing and forcing portions of the steel wool pads into the grooves 57 and 79.

When the grills have entered their respective groove patterns in the blocksV 35.and 45, the latch bars 7U and 87 will be pivoted into slots 73 and SS respectively. The wing nuts 75 and 9i) are then tightened against the base 21 and the levers 89 respectively to draw and hold the grills 6@ and -Stl in the grooves 57 and 79 of the blocks 35 and 45. The steel wool pads 76 and 91 will thereby be securely -held to the grooved surfaces of their respective blocks and the grills 66 and 80 will be below the plane of the cleaning surface of the steel wool pads.

VThe upper portion of the apparatus consisting essentially of grill Si?, abrasive 9i, block 45, frames 5o, straps S9 andthe connecting link 37 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) to move the steel wool pad 91 in contact with the upper surface of the strip 100. The latch bars 9i pivotally mounted on ,the frame 2li are then pivotecl clockwise (Figs. 3, 5 and 6) into slots 93 (Fig. l). The wing nuts 95 are tightened against the levers 36 to force the blocks 36 and 45 together and thereby force the two pads 76 and 91 against the lower and upper surface of the strip 100 to give frictional Contact therewith to provide the cleaning action necessary.

When the pads 76 and 91 become worn or in need of replacement, the latch bars 91 are released and the upper block 45 pivoted clockwise (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) about pin 3d to separate the steel wool pads. With the blocks in the open position, the latches 70 and 87 are released fromthe Vframe Z1 Vand the levers 89, and then the grills et) and 8i) are pivoted out of the grooves in the blocks (Fig. 3) to allow the steel wool pads 76 and 91 to be removed and replaced.

`It is to be understood that the above-described ari rangements are simply illustrative of an application lof the principles ofthis invention. Ntnnerousmother" arrangements may be read-ily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for cleaning surfaces of strip material which comprises a first block,"a secondl block pivotally connected to the iirst block, said rst and ond blocks, having a plurality of grooves therein on facing surfaces of the blocks, lcompressible abrasive materialpositioned on the grooved surfaces of the blocks, a separate grill pivotally mounted to each block over the abrasive material to enter the grooves to compress portions of the abrasive material within the groove, and latch means for holding the grills in the grooves so that the outer surfaces of the uncompressed abrasive materials extend beyond the outer Vsurfaces of .the grills.

2j An apparatus Vfor cleaning surfaces vof ahmoyling strip material which comprises a stationary v.blQckQvtt frame pivotally mounted to said stationary block, a cover block resiliently'rnounted on the frame faori'glthe stationary block, said blocks having grooves in ,the ,dpposing vsurfaces thereof, a first grill pivotallyfmunted to the stationary block, a secondgrill pivotally mounted to the lcover block, said grills having the elements Vthereiof patterned to lit within the grooves, compressible abrasive materials positioned between the respectiveblocks and grills, latches mounted on each gnill to force fthe grill against the abrasive and into the grooves, vand latches mounted on the stationary blockV to hold fthe blocks together to force the compressible abrasive ,niaterial against a moving strip material Vto be cleaned."

3. An .apparatus for cleaning opposing surfaces of strip material which comprises a base, la block rigidly mounted on said base, said block havingtsurface grooves therein, a rst grill pivotally mounted onsaid first block Vto enter the grooves formed therein, acornpressible steel wool pad positioned*between said'virsnt grill and Viirst block, latch means mounted on said grill for retaining the grill within the grooves, '-a frame pivotally mounted on said base to move toward the- ,'t block, latch means mounted on said frame forfretaini f the frame in position over the rst block, a second block resiliently mounted on said frame facing vthe rst blok, said second block having surface grooves therein, fa 'sec'- o nd grill pivotally mounted on said second block to enter into the grooves of the second block, a second compresf sible steel wool pad positioned between said secondl and Ysecond block, latch means mounted on said second grill to retain the grill within the grooves oft'he second block, and latch means for holding the blocks lin spaced relationship.

References Cited inthe file of this patent `UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,557,473 Cross Get. 13, I1925 1,714,586 Benner Q May 28, 192,9

1,925,782 Wahlquist Sept. 5V, `19,33

FOREIGN PATENTS Y 163,238 Switzerland V June 1, `,1 -,9,34 

